(7) Iris
ephemeris	date	magn	radius	delta	ra	dec	elong	phase
Opposition	27 Feb 2026	8.9	2.491 AU	1.508 AU	10h28m	-00°04'	171.0°	3.6°
Today	28 Feb 2026	8.9	2.493 AU	1.509 AU	10h27m	-00°01'	171.0°	3.6°

The interactive orbit chart above shows the body's path through the solar system and its position at the given date. Green and blue lines are shown perpendicular to the ecliptic plane: Green if the path is above the ecliptic plane, blue if it is below. (Left-click and drag to rotate the view; Right-click and drag to move the view; Use scroll wheel to zoom in our out.)

The orbital elements of Iris are:

            e (Eccentricity)                : 0.2302133
            a (Semimajor axis)              : 2.3865290
            i (Inclination)                 : 5.51882
            Ω (Longitude of ascending node) : 259.49459
            ω (Argument of perihelion)      : 145.48205
            M (Mean anomaly)                : 61.72501
            Epoch                           : 2025 Nov 21

            L (Longitude of perihelion)     : 225.10083
            B (Latitude of perihelion)      : 3.12403
            P (Orbital period in years)     : 3.69            
        

The light curve chart below shows the estimated development of the minor planet's magnitude.

The all-sky chart below shows the path of the minor planet over the same period as the light curve. The current position is marked yellow.

The following chart shows the path of the minor planet in the next few days. The field of view is optimized for (~10x50) binoculars and finderscopes.

Ephemerides:

Date       Time       RA (2000)    DEC (2000)    delta   radius  elong  phase   PA    magn
2026-02-28 00:00 UT   10 27 51.8   +00 01 39     1.509    2.493  171.0    3.6    24    8.9 
2026-02-28 21:40 UT   10 26 58.4   +00 03 35     1.512    2.495  170.9    3.6    31    8.9 
2026-03-01 00:00 UT   10 26 52.7   +00 04 09     1.512    2.495  170.9    3.6    32    8.9 
2026-03-02 00:00 UT   10 25 54.0   +00 10 01     1.515    2.497  170.6    3.7    40    8.9 
2026-03-03 00:00 UT   10 24 55.8   +00 15 56     1.518    2.500  170.1    3.9    47    8.9 
2026-03-04 00:00 UT   10 23 58.2   +00 21 55     1.521    2.502  169.5    4.1    53    9.0 
2026-03-05 00:00 UT   10 23 01.2   +00 27 56     1.524    2.505  168.8    4.4    58    9.0 
2026-03-06 00:00 UT   10 22 04.9   +00 33 59     1.528    2.507  168.1    4.7    63    9.0 
2026-03-07 00:00 UT   10 21 09.3   +00 40 04     1.532    2.509  167.2    5.0    68    9.0 
2026-03-08 00:00 UT   10 20 14.5   +00 46 10     1.537    2.512  166.3    5.4    71    9.1 
2026-03-09 00:00 UT   10 19 20.6   +00 52 16     1.541    2.514  165.3    5.7    75    9.1 
2026-03-10 00:00 UT   10 18 27.6   +00 58 24     1.546    2.516  164.3    6.1    77    9.1 
2026-03-11 00:00 UT   10 17 35.7   +01 04 30     1.551    2.519  163.3    6.5    80    9.1 
2026-03-12 00:00 UT   10 16 44.7   +01 10 37     1.557    2.521  162.3    6.9    82    9.2 
2026-03-13 00:00 UT   10 15 54.9   +01 16 42     1.562    2.524  161.2    7.3    84    9.2 
2026-03-14 00:00 UT   10 15 06.2   +01 22 46     1.568    2.526  160.1    7.7    86    9.2 
2026-03-15 00:00 UT   10 14 18.7   +01 28 48     1.574    2.528  159.0    8.1    87    9.3 
2026-03-16 00:00 UT   10 13 32.4   +01 34 48     1.581    2.531  157.9    8.5    89    9.3 
2026-03-17 00:00 UT   10 12 47.5   +01 40 45     1.588    2.533  156.8    8.9    90    9.3 
2026-03-18 00:00 UT   10 12 03.8   +01 46 39     1.595    2.535  155.7    9.3    91    9.3 
2026-03-19 00:00 UT   10 11 21.6   +01 52 30     1.602    2.538  154.6    9.7    92    9.4 
2026-03-20 00:00 UT   10 10 40.7   +01 58 16     1.609    2.540  153.5   10.1    93    9.4 
2026-03-21 00:00 UT   10 10 01.4   +02 03 59     1.617    2.542  152.4   10.5    94    9.4 
2026-03-22 00:00 UT   10 09 23.5   +02 09 37     1.625    2.544  151.3   10.8    95    9.5 
2026-03-23 00:00 UT   10 08 47.1   +02 15 10     1.633    2.547  150.2   11.2    96    9.5 
2026-03-24 00:00 UT   10 08 12.2   +02 20 38     1.642    2.549  149.1   11.6    96    9.5 
2026-03-25 00:00 UT   10 07 38.9   +02 26 00     1.650    2.551  148.0   12.0    97    9.5 
2026-03-26 00:00 UT   10 07 07.2   +02 31 17     1.659    2.554  146.9   12.3    98    9.6 
2026-03-27 00:00 UT   10 06 37.1   +02 36 27     1.668    2.556  145.8   12.7    98    9.6 
2026-03-28 00:00 UT   10 06 08.6   +02 41 32     1.678    2.558  144.7   13.0    99    9.6 
2026-03-29 00:00 UT   10 05 41.7   +02 46 30     1.687    2.560  143.7   13.4    99    9.6 
2026-03-30 00:00 UT   10 05 16.5   +02 51 21     1.697    2.563  142.6   13.7   100    9.7 

    Terminology:
            
    delta:  distance between minor planet and earth in AU
    radius: distance between minor planet and sun in AU
    magn:   magnitude (brightness) estimate    
    ra:     right ascension in hours (24h = 360deg)
    dec:    declination in degrees
    elong:  elongation in degrees (angle sun-earth-minor planet)    
    phase:  phase angle in degrees (angle sun-minor planet-earth)        
    AU:     Astronomical Unit (mean distance between earth and sun: 149597870.7 km
    

Orbital elements provided by the MPC (Minor Planet Center).
Calculations by a modified version of AAPlus, a C# implementation of the AA+ project by PJ Naughter from the algorithms presented in the book "Astronomical Algorithms" by Jean Meeus.
NGC2000 dso catalog and star labels from VizieR as provided by the Strasbourg astronomical Data Center.
Tycho2 catalog from the ESO archive.